I remember seeing a madras plaid coat on one or two older amateurs at Devon many years ago, although I did not see them wearing those coats at any other shows.
I figured maybe they were wearing their favorite lucky old coats that only got pulled out at the biggest horse shows. Lol.
Back when I was first riding hunt seat, nearly 60 years ago, the barn cats had to go out, catch up their own horses, bring them in, lick them down, and tack them up themselves.
Think it’s a pain wrapping leathers for a 7yo human? Try fitting a hard hat over head-top ears. At least back in those days hard hats didn’t have harnesses. Can you imagine the hissing every time a whisker got caught in an elastic chin strap?
Nothing dorky about a properly fitting saddle that didn’t need a “show” pad, or a proper pelham with double reins!
Same for a hunt double bridle and correct wrinkles in breeches and boots.
Those outfits look to me a lot classier than some I’ve seen at more recent shows.
Even on these boards so much has changed. I was active in the days of dear Cactus Kate and Willem, of jiggling curb chains for good wishes, of Erin up and quitting, of the Aiden thread that took us to the depths of a family’s despair and the heights of their triumph. I believe we even had a guy or two posting.
We’re sitting here talking about what was and I’m so enjoying it. At the same time, it’s all so bittersweet. A horse world that we knew is gone forever, in so many ways.
Even now, as I’m barn/horse/coach shopping – and waiting delivery of a new pair of full chaps IN HUNTER GREEN, NO LESS [can you hear me in the back row, you half-chaps boosters?] – I worry that my joints are shot, my nerve gone, my tolerance for injury about zero. But I have to try. I need horses again. I need you all again.
I’ve been in and out of HJ a couple of times.
Rode as a junior in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Quit for about ten years for school. Came back and did HJ mostly local with some jumpers at bigger shows and evented a bit. Full chaps were still a thing but more fitted and custom. Tall boots were more fitted and taller. More people wore helmets. There were still a lot of TB’s when I started back, but that dwindled over time. Lots of people still kept horses in backyards and rode to lessons and, sometimes, even shows. Navajo saddle pads were still in vogue. My last few years as a junior, outfits got really wild (one person even had a yellow coat with black buttons!) but all was back to navy and black when I returned.
Had a hiatus to dressage for a few years when my eventing prospect liked the rectangular ring better than leaping over things. Came back when the dressage prospect preferred jumping. In the meantime, boots got zippers, helmets were mandated, there were a LOT of warmbloods, and more people were in programs and had grooms. But we still wore wool coats and cotton shirts. Breeches got better (no more buttons or zippers at the bottom). People were paying more attention to footing. At some point you could no longer be asked to trot or canter directly into the ring as part of an eq test. The variety of bits and mouthpieces (hello bits with two joints) expanded.
Had five or so years of horses with issues and not much showing. When I came back, coats were stretchy. Shirts were also stretchy, breathable, and had lost the chokers. There were more grooms and fewer true local shows, though we’re relatively lucky in my immediate and greater area. Boots were more sock-like.
Cue a few more years of horse issues and…mesh jackets, air vests, continued footing improvements, hunters and eq horses getting really expensive.
I will say, Fabbri and Tucci leather is FAR superior to Parlanti for the same price. My Fabbri boots were used and abused for 8 long years and finally they died. That’s riding, bathing horses, scrubbing buckets and walking around Flintridge for 10+ hours a day 6 days a week. Pretty good quality if you ask me.
In any era, the horses sometimes have their own career plans. Lol.
Coreene (along with the spirit of Willem) is doing marvelously and still has her hysterical sense of humor. I think of Cactus Kate often and remember the entire Erin saga in great detail. The Aiden thread was a rollercoaster of emotions on several levels. In those days, I posted under the screen name “Merry.”
Back then, monogrammed chokers were a thing. Helmets were velvet and had harnesses, but still weren’t all that protective, compared to today. Tailored Sportsman “puke green” breeches were standard attire, but many of us longed to wear rust. Occasionally some of us still did. 
I understand how you feel about being away from regular riding and competition… and COTH… and then returning and finding so much has changed. Although I never left horses, my riding goals changed and I guess I drifted away from COTH because I felt like I had nothing much to contribute any more. I’m glad I came back for the sense of community and the lively discussions. Consider yourself welcomed back!
Ah yes, no more dramatic entrances or calculated exits. I remember when that changed and I was like, “Well, darn…” 
Can you remind me what the Erin saga was? I can’t make it surface in my brain. Thanks!
I miss the vibrancy of the Old Board too. Facebook never did it for me, never been an “Insta” gal, and TikTok is amusing, I guess.
Sometime after 2001 when I joined 
. Maybe 2003-4? The “Colin” stuff was earlier, certainly.
[quote=“Jaegermonster, post:103, topic:779517, full:true”]
I can assure you if it is 95 degrees, I could not possibly care less what you or anyone else thinks about what show shirt I have on IF you could even tell, which you couldn’t, since under a coat with the white cuffs, the Ariat sleeveless, short sleeve, and long sleeve show shirts all look identical. Years ago I too would have said “I would NEVER” but it turns out that now that I’m showing in the heat again as a middle-aged adult, yeah, I would, because it looks the same and feels sooo much better!
I actually made it into a workoff with Cool, the horse who caused me to switch to dressage. The last part of the test was to canter a jump that was pretty close to the out gate, break to a trot, and trot out. I was the ONLY one that got the trot before exiting, possibly because I used my magical dressage chirp sound. I still didn’t win…
I concur.
I turned 70 last summer and I still need horses. My joints are achy and sometimes downright ouchy, my nerve is gone with the hormones that retired when I hit menopause, and my tolerance for injury is probably about zero, even though I now have medical coverage which I did not for some of my most active riding-and-driving years. I’m hoping to move from this sort-of-horsey area sometime in the new year, to a place with better medical care and better transportation, where I’ve thought I could retire from life as well as everything else.
And yet I find myself Googling that area for barns and – as I told a horsey friend just this weekend – my downsizing and donating plans do NOT include giving away my boots, helmet, or breeches.
The money for lessons of some sort will come from somewhere, it always has, in dribs and drabs and (literally) bits and bobs.
Having everything washable was a shocker to me.
As someone whose mother got Christmas presents from their dry cleaner bc of all the TS and wool coats and pressed show shirts, it was a relief and also slightly terrifying that I could now take my still ridiculously expensive show clothes and wash them myself.
FWIW, my custom Vogels are still amazing and I’ve contemplated multiple times bringing them to a boot cobbler and having zippers added.
Also, my amazing wool coat got dusted off a few weeks ago during a cold snap and worn bc I decided a needed to sport a little throwback. It still fits like a glove after 20-something years, so nevermind the class itself… the fit of the coat was the true win!
But yeah, my latest CWD cost more than either of my first 2 horses… so that was a bit shocking… and it is still weird for me to hand my horse over and not do all the hands-on work that I used to do from 4am-7pm on show days myself.
Also, I’ve seen full chaps coming back for quite some time. I’m excited for some chilly weather to put my Journeyman chaps back on! Hoping they still fit!
I think I was showing in an unapproved velvet hunt cap through the mid 00s. Why on Earth was I doing it even then?
Ok, I know why, because a lot of the BNTs I aspired to be still did it. As much as I hate that the show ring trend is now helmets that cost upwards of $600, thank goodness that the need for approved helmets isn’t battled anymore.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
